Ron Howard Thinks He Could Make ‘Willow’ “Cooler”

Is a Willow remake in the works? What about a Happy Days musical? And what does the narrator of Arrested Development eat when he stops at the gas station?

Earlier this morning, Ron Howard—director of Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, and the upcoming Chris Hemsworth film In the Heart of the Sea—answered all of redditors’ questions in an Ask Me Anything (AMA).

He wants to put on a musical.

“… there’s always that lingering curiosity of what it would really be to stage a musical. Closest thing I’ve ever did was one sort of goofy number that Jim Carrey performed as the Grinch. Our version of ‘You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch.’ And we shot it very quickly in a couple of days, but it was fun, and I’ve always thought it would be interesting to try to tackle that genre, but it’s a challenging one as well.”

Here’s his secret to staying a “nice guy” despite working in Hollywood.

“… I started as a child–great parents, lots of good guidance, a great environment working on the Andy Griffith Show, to sort of uh have this foundational experience and develop kind of a work ethos that has been valuable to me ever since. And…here’s the one thing that makes me a real anomaly. I’ve always loved it. Inever wanted to do anything else. I never thought it was a drag to go to the set or learn my lines or be around this. I just always found it fascinating. And you know what? I still do. There are mornings where I get up at 4:30 in the morning to go to the set, it’s a lot of responsibility, maybe I didn’t sleep well that night, I’m worried about the scene, maybe there are problems…but when I set foot on the set, I’m always glad to be there. I’m always interested in what’s going to happen. Even if I’m really tense or worried, there’s a part of me that’s nourished by it, so I’m fortunate.”

(Oh, and his philosophical inspiration? The “midwestern Zen” of his father, Rance Howard.)

He wants to remake Willow—or make a movie about “older Willow.”

“You know there are things about the movie Willow, as much affection as I have for it and as much affection as fans have for it that, you know, I would love to have a second chance with.

“George Lucas was so trusting; I was still fairly green, I always say it was a little like me doing my doctoral thesis working with George Lucas on that movie Willow. And I think today I could make it even more dynamic, I could make it cooler, I could make the funny stuff funnier, but all that said, you know Willow was a great experience and I’m really glad it sort of lives in people’s memory. Or younger people see it today and still find something to really like about it.”

He’s nuts about gas station food.

“Well, when I stop at a gas station, I’m trying to be healthy so I kind of walk by all that stuff that at one point in my life I might have grabbed and gobbled. But instead, I’m looking for those almonds, those walnuts, those power foods to help me along down the road.”

He wants you to watch Ex Machina.

“That you’ve not heard of….well, I hope people have heard of Ex Machina and have seen that movie, you know–I loved it. It didn’t do all that well on it’s theatrical run–you know, one of those things. Not an easy movie to market. But it’s getting some attention in the awards race, and it really deserves it. So, that’s a favorite of mine. There’s another one called Locke starring Tom Hardy which is a great movie and I really thought that he should have gotten awards attention for that performance. It’s a really brilliantly written and directed movie. Very unusual, but, I think a movie worth checking out. Those are a couple just in recent memory that you haven’t heard of.

“Of course my favorite movie in the last 7 or 8 years is probably just Slumdog Millionaire. I keep going back and watching that movie, and I just love it. And you know, ironically that’s the same year Frost/Nixon was nominated for an Academy Award, and as competitive a guy I can be, you know I had to sort of say hats off to Danny Boyle and Slumdog Millionaire. I thought that was just remarkable entertainment and fresh, and original and very thought provoking too.”